Serendipity Next Door
by Trixie1029
Summary: Regina Mills has lived in Storybrooke Apartments for a few years now. And she still doesn't know most of the other tenants. Sure, she's friends with the Nolan couple, but that's only because they moved in at the same time. But when the famous musician Baefire goes on a hiatus and moves in, all the tenants get to know each other better. Some moreso than others.
1. Prologue

***Based on the mobile game by Voltage Inc. with the same title***

* * *

Regina Mills has a pretty simple and routinely life. She wakes up, goes to work, maybe hangs out with some friends after work, and goes home. And rarely does anything interrupt her routine.

Of course the day she thinks this, fate (or God or the universe or some higher power) makes sure that the next day is an absolute mess. And apparently that higher power decided to the start the day with the cliché of her alarm not going off at the right time.

But Regina doesn't wake up to any alarm; instead, it's the sound of boxes moving in the hallway. Who the hell moves in first thing in the morning? Roused, she checks her phone for the time. _Oh god, it's NOT six? It's eight?! Work's in a half-hour!_

Now completely awake, she gets dress, collects her purse, wallet, files, and her bike lock keys. She decides to fix her hair and make-up later when she gets to the office. She forgoes taking the elevator and runs down six flights of stairs (this is a rare time she's glad she lives on the third floor). She exits the building to get her bike, but she runs into Mrs. Lucas, the landlord, who appears to be gardening the front.

"Good morning, Regina," Mrs. Lucas stops her.

"Hello, Mrs. Lucas," Regina hopes this is all the pleasantry the woman will force on her this morning.

"What happened to you? You're a sight for sore eyes this morning. Your hair is standing up!"

"Yes, well, as you probably can see, I'm running late and didn't have time to make myself pretty," she snaps and Mrs. Lucas frowns a bit.

"A bit unnecessary, but before you go, you should know that there's a new tenant moving in on your floor today," she says as Regina unlocks her bike.

"New tenant, got it," Regina says while she's walking away.

She's about to get on and pedal for her life, when another neighbor stops her. It's the Nolan couple from the floor above her. Snow's the one to approach her first.

"Good morning, Regina!" Snow (her first name is Mary Margaret, but for some reason she insist on going by Snow) says.

"Hi," she courtly says. She hopes for once that the sickening sweet couple will realize that she's in no mood to talk.

"Off to work?" David asks. Regina doesn't say anything, but she does give him a 'what do you think?' look. And he laughs, "Right, well… we just got back from our honeymoon, right Snow?" he cups her cheek and she smiles back.

"Is that so?" they're in their own world now, so Regina takes this chance to leave. "Well, I need to go…"

"Oh, before you do," Snow snaps out of her trance, "I have a souvenir for you!" she reaches into her purse and hands Regina a thin wrapped box.

"Thank you?" she appreciates the thought, but last time Snow gave her a souvenir, it was an apple with an arrow through it. Regina's not quite sure what Snow was trying to tell her.

"Make sure you save this for a special occasion, okay? Have a good day!"

"Right…bye…" Regina leaves the couple before they start fawning over each other. _What does Snow mean by a special occasion? Well, whatever…I need to get to work!_

Finally, Regina's ready to kick off and start pedal, but another voice startles her before she leaves. A man, she thinks lives in the same building as her, is walking towards her while talking on the phone. The man is dark blonde, about her age (maybe a bit older), has bright blue eyes and a scruffy beard and mustache (and doesn't look too bad on him… which is something Regina would notice if she wasn't running late), and… a lipstick stain one his shirt collar. _Okay Mister-clearly-I-had-a-hot-date-last-night would you mind doing your walk of shame somewhere else!_ But if the man's call is anything to go by, it seems like he's having a bad day too. He's been yelling at the same person for a while now. "Huh?! I told you I'd be there! I'm on my way to the shoot right now!…No I didn't forget!…I'll be there in ten minutes!" The man ends the call and sees her. "Oh, hi…"

"Hi. Can't talk," she simply says before passing him and finally leaving the complex.

She decides to take some less crowded back roads to shave off some times. Thankfully, it works. She makes it to her desk seat with three minutes to spare. Unfortunately, her hair is more of mess than it was before and her boss is coming towards her. Behind her boss, Mallory, is her other friend Kathryn. Regina's not quite sure what Mal wants to talk to her about, but Kathryn is obviously distressed about something.

"Please do something about her," Mal says when she gets to Regina's desk. Kathryn is glaring at some newspaper article.

"What happened?" Regina asks.

"Have you read the news?" Kathryn looks up at Regina.

"What is it?"

"Just look!" Kathryn shoves an entertainment article in Regina's face. She's a bit crosse-eyed when reading it, but the title is clearly reads "BAEFIRE GOES ON HIATUS? COMEBACK DATE'S UNCERTAIN". Why does the name sound familiar…?

"Oh!…Isn't that your favorite…" Regina starts to asks Kathryn.

"Yep! It's the ratty musician she loves," Mal interrupts Regina.

"Hey! Baefire is a true artist! He hits you right in the guts with feelings!" Kathryn says.

"Whatever you say," Mal 'tries' placates her.

"I can't believe he's taking a break!" she whines. The clock strikes 8:30. _Time for work…_ "Alright! Let's get to work, Regina!" Kathryn mood instantly bounce back. Both Regina and Mal are surprised by the quick switch of emotions. But soon after Mal looks resigned.

"If I'd know you'd perk up for work, I would've set the clocks forward five minutes," Mal mutters. "By the way, Regina," her boss turns to her, "I'd fix your hair fast. You and I have a meeting with the president in a half hour."

"Since when?" she looks down at her desk calendar. All that's marked is an afternoon meeting.

"The president called for it this morning. You're moving departments tomorrow."

"This is the first I'm hearing of it!" She never applied for a transfer, so where's this coming from?

"Well, with the recent downgrade, we're low on workers, and some departments are really struggling with fewer employees. So you're needed elsewhere," Mal explains and leaves Regina to her desk. Kathryn says goodbye and leaves for her own desk too. And Regina is left wondering which department she's being moved to.

Thirty-five minutes later, Regina is now a member of the imported goods department. As much as she likes her company, import goods was never a department she thought she'd be working in. For the last two years, she's been the star worker in the produce department. So by the president's logic, she's the perfect person to put into a struggling department. She applied to the company to work in the produce department because she loves the recipes the company published. And writing her own recipes was the best thing about her job. But now that's gone. It'll definitely be a challenge, but nothing she can't handle. The work doesn't seem all that different from the type she was doing before. And a definite plus is that she's still working under Mal. So at least she doesn't need to conform to new boss' style.

"It's not your speciality, but I still want your focus on this new job," Mal says after the meeting. The two are walking back to Regina's desk.

"Don't worry. I intend to give it my all," she confidently grins and takes out her files from her purse. But the second act against her is afoot. She forgets that Snow's present is at the top, and so it falls out.

"Ooo… What's that?" Kathryn quite literally appears out of nowhere.

Mal jumps back, "Where did you come from?" Kathryn just waves her off and looks at Regina.

"Just a souvenir my neighbors brought back from their honeymoon," she replies.

"Like a t-shirt?" Kathryn asks.

"The box's a bit too thin for that," Mal observes.

"Knowing Snow, it's nothing good," Regina says as she attempts to put the box back in her purse.

"You should open it!" Kathryn stops her. And Regina knows Kathryn won't leave her alone until she does. Reluctantly, but not without gives Kathryn an angry glare, she rips the wrapping and opens the box. But she immediately closes it again. _Of course she would…Well at least that explains the special occasion comment…_

"What is it?" Kathryn eggs her.

"Nothing! Just Snow being Snow," she said. She really should've seen this coming.

"It doesn't look like nothing! Come on, let me see!" Kathryn gets closer to her and Regina waves her back.

"We are in the office, remember? The place where we're paid to work," Regina says. But Kathryn ignores her and reaches for the box. Unfortunately, Regina is caught off guard and Kathryn is successful at getting the box. She moves next to Mal, who looks amuse, and opens the box.

"Well, well, well… what do we have here?" Mal dryly says.

"Wow! It's been a while since I've seen a lace thong!" Kathryn loudly says.

"Please Kathryn, announce that a bit louder. I don't think the temps heard you," Regina says and takes back the "souvenir".

"You do know that a purple thong like this is serious, right? You've got to save this for a special occasion!" Kathryn excitedly smacks her on the back and she frowns.

"Whatever," Regina ends the conversation and turns to her desk. Mal snickers as she drags Kathryn away.

The rest of the day is uneventful, outside of the few unwelcome comments from Kathryn, and Regina wraps up her last project in the produce department.

She's on her way to the bookstore when Kathryn's voices floats into her thoughts. _A special occasion, huh? I haven't had any opportunities like that in a while… Well, that doesn't matter anyways, I need to focus on work._

She arrives at the book store and hoping to be quick about buying basic books for imported goods and marketing. But a pair of high school students block her way to the marketing section. The girls are fawning over a photography magazine and from the cover, it's featuring a photographer. She clears her throat and the girls sheepishly move away. She picks a few marketing reference books and goes to pay for them.

But on the way to the register, she passes by the magazine rack that the high school girls were looking at. And she finds the one that the girls were reading "A memorable collaboration by Aurora and Robin Locksley". It's a swimsuit edition, and surprisingly none of the photos are offensive or perverse. _So… Robin Locksley took those photos? At least he's not a complete pervert._ Regina doesn't dwell on the magazine for much longer and goes on her way to pay for the books.

Whichever higher power exists, he/she/they/it still seems to have something against her because when biking home, it starts to rain. Usually, when it rains, she takes the train and bus home. So now she's pedaling faster to get out of the rain to protect the books.

 **POP!**

Her bikes slows down and she nearly falls off. _No, no, no! A flat tire now!?_ She looks at her front tire and sees shards of glass in the middle of the bike lane. The glass' color and thickness resembles the kind for bottles. Her apartment is only a few blocks away, so she could run. But a voice calls out and Regina doesn't feel rain on her anymore. She turns around to see a young blonde woman wearing a peach apron with a paw print standing with an umbrella over the two of them. "You okay? Got a flat?"

"Excuse me?" Regina steps away from the strange woman. Some raindrops softly brush against her as she's only partly under the umbrella now.

"I heard a loud noise from inside and came out to check," the woman pointed towards the pet store behind her.

"Oh, I just ran over some glass," she points to the glass shards.

"Here, hold this," the woman hands her the umbrella and kneels down in front of her bike.

"What are you doing?" Regina suspiciously asks.

"Checking your tire," the woman says with an "duh" tone.

"Obviously it's flat," Regina says and the woman gets up with an annoyed look. "I'll just take it to a repair shop," She gives the umbrella back and grabs the handlebars.

"In this weather? Good luck," the woman sarcastically says. "The nearest shop is 20 blocks from here."

"Then I'll go tomorrow," Regina replies.

"I could keep your bike here for the night. I work here," the woman offers. That would explain the odd apron.

"Thank you, but I'll take care of it."

"Well at least take the umbrella," the woman gives her the umbrella again. "It's yours."

"Thanks," Regina nods at the woman. She walks at a slower pace now that she's protected from the rain.

She makes it to the apartment complex without incident. When she walks in, Mrs. Lucas is her office doorway talking to a man that Regina's never met, but looks oddly familiar. And for some reason he's wearing sunglasses at night and inside….

"Welcome back, Regina," Mrs. Lucas says when she sees her. "Perfect timing. Let me introduce you two. Neal, this is Regina Mills. Regina, this is Neal Cassidy. He just moved in across from you."

"Huh?!" _Neal Cassidy…damnit, another familiar name from somewhere…Wait, a new tenant? When did that happen?…Oh right, Mrs. Lucas might have said something about that this morning…_

"Would either of you like hot chocolate?" Mrs. Lucas asks and then goes to the common area without hearing their answers. Regina's the first to walk with Mr. Cassidy behind her.

"Here you are," Mrs. Lucas hands both of them a mug of hot chocolate when they get to the common area.

"Thanks," Regina says as she takes a sip.

"What is this place?" Mr. Cassidy asks.

"It's the common area. Feel free to use it as much as you like," Mrs. Lucas smiles.

"Ok…Thanks," after he says that he takes his first sip of the hot chocolate.

Mrs. Lucas looks like she's about to talk about the other tenants, which Regina only assumes from the way the Nolan's names come up, when a female voice interrupts her, "Oh! There you are, Mrs. Lucas."

The three of them turn to see a blonde female walking from the elevator. It's the same one that tried to help Regina earlier. Except now the weird apron is gone now.

"What's wrong Emma?"

"The gas isn't coming to my apartment…" Emma says.

 _Wait, if she's my neighbor, how did she get to her apartment before me? I left before she did and there hasn't been anyone walking through here to the elevator…Oh! She might've come from the back door, but that's usually locked…_

While Regina is busy puzzling out how her neighbor mysteriously teleported, Emma and Mr. Cassidy are introduced. The two shake hands before Emma notices who he is, "You're Baefire, aren't you?" _Oh… that's right his pictures are all over Kathryn's desk…Kathryn is going to go ballistic if she finds out…Note to self, never ever mention this to her in a public place… Or ever._

The discovered musician doesn't say anything.

"What's a famous musician doing here?" Emma bitingly asks.

"Maybe he just loves my hot chocolate," Mrs. Lucas says warningly.

"That's a good point, but not a selling point, Mrs. Lucas," Emma says but drops the subject of Mr. Cassidy.

Regina wants to leave, but another tenant walks in, "Do you people have any idea what time it is?!" This time it's the man with the bad phone call and lipstick stain on his collar. He's now wearing a black tank top and sweatpants.

Before anyone answers him, Mrs. Lucas smiles and claps her hands. "Since most of are all here, we should introduces ourselves!"

"Introduce ourselves?" Regina asks. She doesn't think it's a bad idea given that she didn't even know most of them lived in the building, but she really wants to go home.

"Of course! It's not often that everyone's in the same place at once."

"Unfortunately I don't have time for this, I'm in the middle of work," Mr. Lipstick-stain says.

"What are you saying, of course you do Robin," Mrs. Lucas sweetly smiles at him, but everyone can see her sharp eyes. Mr. Lipstick-stain doesn't say anything, but he does stay. "Let's start with Neal since he just moved in."

"I'm Neal Cassidy," he says somewhat sheepishly. He doesn't say anything more and no one else is quite sure how to follow up.

"…And what do you do, Neal?" Mrs. Lucas asks.

"…Unemployed," he again is very sheepish in his answer.

"Oh!" Mr. Lipstick-stain speaks up, "That's right, you're the musician who quit all of a sudden."

"Technically, he didn't quit. He's just on a break," Emma says.

"Oh? I didn't take you as a pop fan, Miss Swan," Mr. Lipstick-stain teases her.

Emma smiles back at him, "What about you? How did you know, Mr. Cool?"

"Know the right people in the industry, Miss Swan, and you're privy to the truth behind many rumors," he says and actually WINKS!

Emma opens her mouth to retort, but Mrs. Lucas tells her to introduce herself next. So whatever words she wanted to say, she had to swallow. "I'm Emma Swan. I'm college student studying to be a veterinarian." And no one has anything to say to short and simple intro.

"Alright, next?"

"Robin Locksley. I'm a photographer," Mr. Lipstick-stain says. Emma looks like this explains a lot things. And Regina is inclined to agree…

 _Wait, Mr. Lipstick-stain and Robin Locksley are the same person?_ "How does a person like him take that Aurora collection?" Regina mumbles, but Robin hears her anyway.

"You know my work?" his full attention is on her, which is a bit unnerving with his clear blue eyes. He also looks kind of giddy.

"I saw the magazine in the bookstore today," she says.

"What did you think?" he says. He looks like he's on the balls of his feet waiting for her answer.

"The photos were gorgeous," Regina honestly says.

He smiles, "Thank you!" With his smile, he looks completely different from the annoyed man she saw this morning. He looks like a little kid, dimples and all.

"And last but not least…" Mrs. Lucas puts on the spot.

Regina's just now realizing how much this feels like a group blind date. And Mrs. Lucas is the ringmaster of it all. The only thing needed to complete this picture is Snow… She clears her head of these thoughts and introduces herself, "I'm Regina Mills. I work at a mail-order company."

"Is that everyone?" Robin asks Mrs. Lucas.

"There's still the Nolans on the fourth floor and one more person," she replies.

"Ah... right... that person," Robin sighs and looks a bit resigned at the mention of 'that person'.

"And aren't you going into introduce yourself," Emma teasingly ask Mrs. Lucas.

"Me? Oh, alright, I'm Mrs. Lucas, the landlord of Storybrooke Apartments. During the day I'm in my office, and at night I'm on the fifth floor. If there's any issue, please come find me."

Everyone gives their various thanks. And Neal is the first to leave the group. Regina soon follows him, but first she talks to Emma.

"Thanks again," once again she hands Emma the umbrella.

"No problem. I'm glad that you got back while being some what dry," Emma smiles and takes the umbrella. "You know, when I said the umbrella's yours, I meant it."

"Well that was before we found out we're neighbors. And besides, I hate owing people."

"So you're paying me back with my own umbrella?" Emma teasingly says.

"You can't say I didn't give it back and hold it against me," Regina flatly says.

"True, true," Emma concedes. "But it is finally nice to meet you," she extends her arm.

And Regina takes her right hand, "Likewise." The two say their goodbyes and she goes home.

When she enters her apartment, she realizes how exhausting this day's been. _First I overslept, then I got transferred, then I got a flat tire…and then there's "gift" from Snow._ With the "gift" on her mind, she goes to find it in her purse and pulls it out. The thong isn't bad quality, she thinks, and the color isn't bad, but it's still not something she'd wear right now. She plans to keep in her small dresser, but her door bell interrupts her. Multiple rings interrupts her. Whoever's at the door really wants her to answer and really wants to piss her off. I heard you the first time! She walks up to the peephole and looks through. For some reason, Robin Locksley is at her door looking madder than he did this morning.

"Regina! Are you home?" he yells.

"Yes!" she snaps back.

"Then open up! I need to talk to you!" he yells. _What happened in the last twenty minutes since I saw him?_

"What are you going to do?" she asks. He looks like he's ready to attack the first person he sees. And that's mostly likely going to be her.

"Just let me in!" he sounds even more annoyed and mad. "If you won't open the door, I'll break down the door!"

"What?!"

* * *

 **A/N: Hello! This is my first fanfic in a long time and first OUAT fanfic.**

 **My hope for this is to follow the major plot points from the game, but keeping the rest true to the characters as much as possible.**

 **Thanks for reading!**


	2. Story 01

**A/N: Thank yous to EvilRegalMockingjay for reviewing,** **7215,** **Onceuponlover,** **Yazzy1296,** **megara2001, and** **for favoriting, and** **7215,** **EvilRegalMockingjay,** **Onceuponlover,** **Surayakro,** **Yazzy1296,** **megara2001,** **pxrrysmatic, and** **for following the story!**

* * *

As Regina is being threaten by a crazed photographer, she opens the door with the chain look still on.

"What do you want?" she snaps.

"I need to see your bathroom," he says as he tries to push open the door.

"What!? Why?"

"Please, Regina!" he steps back and looks at her. He attempts a puppy dog look. She isn't fazed.

She's about to close door on him, when she hears water running coming from her bathroom. She doesn't remember turn on the sink or starting a bath…

She leaves to check on the bathroom with the door ajar and Robin still standing there. He continues to yell for her, but she ignores him. When she opens the door, water rushes out of the bathroom and into her living room. The water is coming from the cabinet under the sink. She closes the door to keep the water in and inspects cabinet interior. The pipe's burst. _Shit! Shit! How long has it been like this?!_ She grabs the small trash bin that's in the corner and places it underneath the leak. She sighs as she looks around and takes in the water damage.

Robin's voice interrupt her thinking, "This is worst than I thought."

Surprised, she turns around and glares at him, "How did you get in?"

"You left the door up," he says with a 'duh' tone and points behind himself.

She watches him carefully. She's sure the door chain was still in place. "You better not have broken anything," she threatens. "And how did you know that my bathroom was flooded?"

"Have you forget that I live in the apartment below you?" he mockingly asks. "My dark room and photos were ruined by the water coming from your apartment."

"Dark room?" she asks. The apartments are nice and all, but not enough to have a personal dark room.

"I sometimes develop film at home. I use the bathroom since it has no windows. And this was a rare project where I didn't take any digital photos. So now all my work is lost," he pitifully laments.

"Sorry, but half my apartment _is_ ruined too."

He puts his hand on his neck and sighs, "…Right… we need to stop the water. That bin is bound to overflow…"

"Well, do you have any plaster to cover the leak?" she looks over to him and he shakes no. "Then please go get Mrs. Lucas," she waves him away.

He doesn't rebut her orders and silently walks out the door. With leaking water falling into the trash bin, Regina starts to clean up the water on the floor. She goes to her linen closet and takes out every towel she owns. She starts in the living room and manages to "mop" up the water there.

She finishes the living room and most of the bath room before she's interrupted by a knock, but this time there's no yelling. She the appearance of Mrs. Lucas standing at her door with Robin to the side isn't surprising. But he's avoiding to meet her eyes. She welcomes them both in. Mrs. Lucas walks in to make her way to the bathroom. And he hesitates to entering. She gestures to enter a few times before he steps in. When he's face to face with her, his cheeks turn red, "I should apologize, milady. I was too forceful earlier."

She's surprised that he thought to apologize. And knowing how forceful he was earlier, this seems to be a complete personality switch. "You certainly surprised me…, but your work was ruined. So… I can understand some of the panic," she gives him a small smile.

He doesn't start another response. And clearly neither of them know how to continue, but Mrs. Lucas comes out of the bathroom to talk to them, "It's a mess, and the bucket is only a temporary fix. I'll call a repairman as soon as I'm done here. But the water also cut off electricity in the laundry room too, so that's going to need fixing too."

"So you can't get either fixed right away?" Robin asks.

"I won't know how long until I call someone," Mrs. Lucas says."I'll call both of you when I get an estimated timeline," she says and Regina opens the door for her. The two tenants say goodbye to Mrs. Lucas. Robin stays back and offers to help Regina clean the rest of her room, but she declines and tells him to leave, which he follows once again like a puppy. It takes her a half an hour to get the bathroom floor completely clean. By the end, she's left with a pile of a dirty laundry in front of her. And she won't have any time the rest of the week to do laundry, so she'll have to go tonight. But with the building's laundry room closed off, she has to go out. _Again_. Sighing, she puts everything in a garbage bag and gets ready.

On her way out, she stops by Mrs. Lucas' office, who is at the desk on the phone and apparently on hold. Mrs. Lucas waves at her and Regina asks for directions to the nearest laundromat. Mrs. Lucas doesn't say anything, but she does start drawing a map on a scrap piece of paper. She gives it to Regina as she starts to talk to the person on the phone.

She follows Mrs. Lucas' instructions and walks for ten minutes. Luckily the rain has stopped and the sky is clear. When she arrives at the laundromat, she sees a CD store next to the laundromat. After putting everything in a machine, she goes to the CD store to kill time. She's just browsing when she sees a few of Baefire's albums. She listens to sample tracks of Baefire/Neal's music. He's not going to become her favorite, but she can see why he's popular. His voice is nice and the acoustic guitar in most of his songs are nice touch. Ultimately, she doesn't buy a CD, but does note to look up more of his songs.

An hour later, her towels are clean and she ready to end this long day. But the day gets extended when she runs into Robin for the third time in today. _How have we not met before?_

"Hello again," he awkwardly says. He just came out of a corner-store at the end of the block. And now they're standing face to face on the sidewalk.

"Hi," she replies. Neither of them move. Which is a bit uncomfortable when you're carrying a bulky load of laundry.

"What's in the bag?" he asks.

"My laundry," she says.

The conversations dies again. He 'casually' takes a drink of flavor milk. With nothing better to do, she watches him. _Hmm… that milk has a sweet smell. Not quite like chocolate milk. Too bad it's not apple milk. Only one brand sells in America. And father could only really buy it during business trips in China…_

She examines Robin's milk closer, "That logo!" she yells.

He's nearly chokes and steps away from her, "Please don't yell out like that all of a sudden."

"That milk! I can't believe this store has it!"

"Is it special?" he looks at the carton, but she's already moved passed him and runs into store. "Wh-where are you going?" he calls to her.

"To buy some!" she yells back. She forgot she's still lugging her bulky laundry, so the cashier gives her an odd look when she buys her blessed apple milk. She walks out the store and drops the bag to drink.

"Wow…you really bought it," Robin, unexpectedly, is still standing out front.

"Really Robin," she says after she finishes her first sip, "this is _Ruisui apple milk_. And a store in _America_ is selling it! Do you have any idea how rare this is?"

"I guess not…" he trails off as she keeps drinking. _Zelena might think I'm obsessed with apples, but honestly! Nothing can beat this!_

She glances at Robin looking at her. Her good mood is disturbed by the thought of him wanting more milk. "Stare all you want, but I'm not giving you any."

He blushes for the first time, "Erk…! If I wanted more, I could just buy some!"

"Whatever you say…"

"But…" instantly he looks very smug, "what if I said I wanted some as a payback for what happened today?"

Regina freezes at the idea, "I still won't give you any. It's not like I left the bath running that caused everything. It was an accident." _Well… accident or not, his work_ was _ruined…_ "But I'm sorry for your lost work. You have to do a reshoot, right?"

"I was making arrangements before going out shopping. The deadline is coming up, which means extra work for everyone."

Robin probably didn't mean anything bad with last sentence, it's probably just an observation of the phone calls he had to make. Despite that, Regina takes it as him blaming her, and partly as a challenge. Just letting this sit is going to bother her, so without thinking, she starts speaking, "Is there anything I can do to help?"

He appears intrigued, but ultimately frowns, "Not now, but I'll keep your offer in mind."

The rejection stings a bit, but she, unexpectedly, doesn't take much offense. _He probably thinks I won't be much help…Which is true, I don't know anything about professional photography._

A phone ring interrupts their conversation. It's Robin's phone.

"It's a call from Mrs. Lucas…" he says as he takes the call. _It's most likely about the repairs._ "Hello?…Okay…Uh-huh…Wait, what! Repeat that!…Hang on a minute! Mrs. Lucas!" Evidently, Mrs. Lucas hangs up on him. _Whatever the news is, it's not going to be good for either of us._ He pockets his phone and reaches for her hand. "Come along, milady! We're going home!"

"Milady?" she repels from him. But his grip is stronger, so the two of them run down the streets. They make quite a picture, him with a pissed off looking face and her with arms full of laundry.

They make it back faster than Regina's time going to the laundromat. And she was right about the news not being good for them.

In the common room, Mrs. Lucas tells them that the repair team isn't coming out until two weeks from now, which is the earliest possible time. Regina is mildly annoyed, two weeks without a working bathroom is inconvenient. Robin, on the other hand, is even more pissed off than before.

"What am I supposed to do for work?" he's nearly growling.

"Isn't there a vacant apartment next door? You could work in there and I'll give you a key," Mrs. Lucas, unfazed, tries to appease him.

"I can't. The bathroom's got a window and mine doesn't, which is why I chose that apartment," he crestfallenly says.

"Ah, that's right," Mrs. Lucas pauses for a thought, "It's unusual, but what about Regina's apartment?"

"Excuse me?!" she speaks up.

"The pluming doesn't work, but the room is still fine. The water didn't damage the floor and the water was cleaned up."

"That still doesn't mean he can turn my bathroom into a dark room!" she argues. And if he brings up how it was pipes in her bathroom caused all this, she will slap him. Thinking quick, she offers her own solution, "Why can't you just rent space for another dark room?"

He looks sheepish when he turns down her idea,"Normally I could, but the project deadline is coming up. And I can't get a lease that fast."

The three come to a stalemate. And it seems that she's the one who's going to have to give in…

But Robin yawns before she can do anything. He says his goodbye and leaves for sleep, which sounds like a good idea to Regina. She too says goodnight to Mrs. Lucas and finally ends this day.

Against everything, she hopes tomorrow will be better.

But the next day isn't much better. She's groggy when she wakes up from the lack of sleep, which she blames Robin for. The day at the office starts out similarly to yesterday with a distressed Kathryn and annoyed Mal.

"Come on, you can't still be upset about what's-his-name's hiatus…" Mal flatly says. Kathryn looks ready attack Mal with her purse, but thinks twice about when she remembers Mal is her boss. Dejectedly, she puts her purse down.

Mal is the first to notice her and gives her an update about her transfer, "Good morning, Regina. You're moving desks today."

"Already? Eager to get rid of me?" she jokingly asks.

"As if. I'm still your boss, remember?" Mal fires back. "And besides, it just to the desk behind you."

"'Just' the desk behind me?" she says. She and Kathryn both turn round to look at said desk. The desk used to belong to Jefferson before he quit last month. Jefferson left so quickly that he didn't even have time to clean up his desk and no one has cleaned it since. Unfortunately for Regina, he was the messiest person in the office. She, herself, used to tease him that it surprising that Mal didn't just fire him based of his lack of cleanliness.

"Does she have to move desk? No matter what?" Kathryn sympathetically asks.

"Trust me, if it was up to me, I would burn that desk with a flamethrower," Regina muses that that statement probably isn't as improbable as it sounds. "But it's an order from the president. So you need to move by the end of today." Her tone isn't gentle, but her expression does show remorse.

Pissed about it, but with nothing else to do, she starts to clean her new desk. And the place is just as disgusting as it looks. Regina finds an old sock next to the computer monitor, old shoes under the desk, chewed gum between the files, and some moldy sandwich in the drawers. Her phone rings a couple times throughout the day, which she's doesn't even notice until Kathryn points it out. But it's an unknown number. Figuring it's just someone with the wrong number, she doesn't pick up.

"Not going to get it?" Kathryn asks.

Brushing some used tissues into a trash can, Regina replies, "It's not work related, so I'll call back later."

Seeing how focused she is on cleaning, Kathryn drops the subject and goes back to her own work.

It takes her the whole day to clean Jefferson's desk and to move her own things. Usually Regina doesn't mind cleaning and housework, but after cleaning nonstop for almost 24 hours, she'll be happy to never have to see a disinfected wipe ever again.

Her phone rings again on her way home. She checks the screen, it's the same number from before. _Someone is either very confused or really wants my attention… Please be the former…_ She picks up to find out. "Hello?"

"It's me," the voice is vaguely familiar, but it sounds like someone's got the wrong number.

"Who is this?" she asks.

"It's me!" the annoyed voice is louder than necessary.

"I think you've got the wrong number, sorry," she unceremoniously hangs up. It rings again shortly after. It's the same number. She picks up again, "Who are you and what do you want?" she snaps. Dealing with someone else's idiocy is not high on her list of desired things to do.

"Have you forgotten me already, milady? It's Robin," she can see a smirk that goes annoyingly well with his tone.

"H-how did you even get my number?" she dubiously ask.

"That's not important right now," _says_ you _!_ "I've been trying to call you all day!"

"Well you're certainly persistent, I'll give you that."

"I don't have much more time for this. Come down to Powell Station right away."

"Right now? Why?"

"I'm calling in that offer of yours," he quickly says, "Be here in five. And please don't dally." This time it's Robin that unceremoniously hangs up.

Mad that this day is prolonged, again by Robin, she's tempted to not even go. But with him as a neighbor, not going could make things worst later on. _Plus, he's a photographer, how bad could the favor be?_

Resolved to go, she runs to the station. _Damnit! I forgot to ask Emma about my bike. Hopefully she took it to the shop._

She barely makes his unnecessary five minute request. She's panting when she approaches him. And he has the gall to snicker at her appearances.

"And… you just barely made it. Did you run here? For me?" he looks too cocky for his own good.

So she glares at him, "As if!" she scoffs. "Any running I do that involves you will be me running away from you."

"Well, you got here in time anyways," he gives a soft smile. He extends his arm for her, "Let's go."

"Where to?" she ignores his hand.

"Upstairs," he points upwards.

"Upstairs?" she looks up and remembers that the station is connected to a hotel. _Wh-what?! He calls me out to a hotel?!_

* * *

 **A/N:** **Thank you so much for reading!**


	3. Story 02

**A/N: Thank you to** **Emily and** **Phoebes for reviewing. Thank you to** **LoveFlora,** **PrincessMiss, and** **Surayakro for adding this story to their favorites. And thank you to** **justanotherwriter00,** **PrincessMiss,** **, and** **katedunkle for following the story. I hope I don't disappoint!**

* * *

It's nighttime in San Francisco. The rush hour freeway traffic is dwindling. Residents are going home. And tourists are wandering around searching for the city's nightlife. Concert halls have lines of people eagerly waiting to purchase last minute tickets. The city library is kicking out students who waited until the last minute to do their work.

And in the midst of all this, there's a man and woman arguing outside of a hotel. He's holding her hand and looking anxious. While she is trying to get away from him.

"C'mon! We need to go in, now!" Robin yells as he drags her towards the front door.

Regina tries to plant her feet firmly on the sidewalk, "Absolutely not! I'm going home!"

"You don't really have a choice in this matter, milady," he tightens his grip.

"Of course I do!" When Regina said she'd repay him with a favor, she never thought he meant this. There was no way she's going to go along with this.

"Please stop stalling! We don't have much time," he finally pulls her hard enough to drag in her into the hotel. She tries the make a scene in the lobby, but they make it to the elevator too fast.

They arrive on the 9th floor, and it's much busier than she expected. There are people, tables, chairs, and boxes everywhere. He leads her to a room at the end of the hallway and she's shocked to see photography equipment. _Huh?_

"Alright, everybody's here now. Let's start the shoot," he calls out to everyone in the room.

"Yes, sir!" the crew members shout. And in a flurry of movement, everyone gets into place.

Things start fall into place in Regina's mind, "You mean you want me to help you with the shoot?" she thinks aloud.

"Yes. And I need to you take off your clothes," Robin straightforwardly says as he's looking over some clipboard.

"Excuse me!" she lets out an un-Regina-like shriek. It barely gets his attention. Another person comes up to him with another clipboard.

"You can change here or the bathroom. Just be quick," he off handedly says.

"Hold on," she grabs his arm to twist him to face her, "can you explain what's going on here?"

"What do you mean?" he tilts his head. But his attention still isn't completely on her, he's still looking down at whatever the crew member handed him.

Irked that he hasn't said anything helpful, she explodes, "You all of a sudden dragged me across half the city and want me to change clothes for no apparent reason. I'm here now and I still have no idea what's going on! An explanation would be nice now!"

He rises his eyes to look directly into her's. He lets out a deep breath before talking, "You're right, milady. You know that my photographs were ruined yes-."

"I know that! But what am I doing here?"

"This is a re-shoot," he says. She had the feeling that's why he dragged her here, but he could've just told her that from the start. He continues his explanation, "But since it's such short notice, I couldn't get enough people. And that's why I've called in that favor."

"You want me to be in your photos?" she disbelievingly asks. He just rejected her offer last night.

"Yes. There are some spare clothes on that rack for you," he gestures to the side of the room. "Now, please quick feet, milady. Time is running out for me."

He turns away from her to talk to some other crew people. So she turns to get changed. She's just starting to think that this isn't so bad, but then she sees the costume. _Famous or not, Robin Locksley is a dead man._ She's staring at the costume when a crew member yells at her to hurry up. She glares back and takes as long as possible to change. _At least my face won't be seen._

And so, fifteen minutes later, there's a call to begin the shoot.

"Time for the mascot to come in!" a crew member yells.

Regina, in a stuffed animal costume, 'waddles' into place. She's only been wearing the costume for a few minutes, but she's already sweating and can only smell old sweat. _This is not what I meant by a favor._

"We're ready for Aurora!" the same crew member yells out to the hallway.

 _Aurora? The model from that magazine?_

A short brunette woman, not wearing an ugly costume, walks in. She's wearing a light purple outfit with the perfect amount of makeup and styled hair. Her soft appearance is a sharp contrast from the ordinary hotel decor and the equipment mess behind the camera. Regina also notes that she looks composed and relaxed.

"Hello," she greets, "I can't wait to get started."

The crew applauses her introduction, which Regina hopes is just a curtesy thing.

Another woman enters the room and interrupts the applause. She has black hair tied up in a pony-tail and wearing a dark red suit. Her voice is as strict as her appearance, "I hope you know Aurora has a busy schedule, Mr. Locksley."

"Hehe, it's fine Mulan," the model appease, who Regina assumes, her manager, "besides, I've never modeled in a hotel room before."

"And you shouldn't have to," Mulan sharply says.

"Hehe," Aurora smiles at the frowning Mulan. She then turns to smile at Regina, "I hope we work well together!"

The bright smile makes Regina grimace. _There's nothing about this situation to be smiling about._ But despite thinking this, she's polite enough to not make trouble with the model, "I'm sure there wouldn't be any issues."

Aurora's eyes widen when she speaks, "Oh, I didn't know a woman is wearing the suit today."

She shrugs in response. And she's starting to feel Aurora's continuous smiling aura through the suit. _Smiling no matter what… I guess that's what makes a star._ Regina isn't envious of that chore.

"Alright, everybody places!," Robin calls out. Aurora and Regina move to their blocked places. And Robin is finalizing his camera set up. When he finishes, he looks up, "Sorry for calling you out this late, Aurora," he says. He aims his camera as she poses.

 **CLICK!**

Regina's frowning face is, thankfully, hidden by the mask of the smiling animal.

"Oh, it's no problem. I'm happy work with you again, Robin," Aurora says as she moves to another pose.

 **CLICK!**

"I'm honored," he moves to get another angle.

"It's because you're so easygoing," she gushes.

 **CLICK!**

"You always get natural poses," she moves again.

He takes a few more photos before talking again, "…Hey, miss in the stuffed animal suit. Stop making weird gestures."

Regina wasn't even aware she's been moving with Aurora. And she glares through the mascot head, which he must notice because he smirks at her. But she complies and stands still.

 **CLICK!**

"Aurora, turn a little towards me," he says. And she does just that. With nothing to do, Regain starts to think about her to-do list. _I should bring some more cleaning supplies to the office tomorrow…_

 **CLICK!**

"Hm…" he looks at the image preview, "lift your chin a bit."

 _And I still need to_ thank _Snow for the 'souvenir'…_

 **CLICK!**

"Now, look just left of the window."

 _Perhaps I could pass it on to Zelena… her birthday is coming up…_

 **CLICK!**

"Now, look down a little," Regina is drawn back to the photoshoot when she notices Robin's voice growing softer. She takes a closer look at his face…which is gentlest and most serious she's seen him. There isn't any tension in his face that Regina has always seen with him. His blue eyes are clear and sharp. And instinctually, she feels drawn to them. "Aurora…stand up straight now…Just like that…and look over at me…"

 **CLICK!**

 _So that's what he looks like at work…He's almost handsome when he's not getting mad or being annoying…_

The next ten minutes of the photo shoot pass relatively fast. And it has nothing to do with Regina solely focusing on Robin without him noticing. Nothing at all.

Finally, crew member calls out for a costume change for Aurora. It appears that Regina is stuck in the mascot costume. But the same crew member says she can take the head off. And she does hastily, which leads some of her hair to get caught. Her untangling process draws Robin's attention away from his camera to her. When she's truly free from the head piece, she feels all the sweat that's accrued on her face. _Ugh… Looks like I'll have to ask Mrs. Lucas to use a spare bathroom…_

"My, my, look at that face," he smirks.

"It's wasn't my choice to look like this. Are all mascot costumes contractually made to boil the person wearing it?" she snaps.

"Perhaps, but your face is ridiculous," and once again he has the gall to laugh at her. She turns away from him hoping to find a 'quiet' corner in the busy room. But a chocolate bar intercepts her view. "Huh?" she blinks a few times to make sure it's not the costume heat getting to her.

"For your hard work," he brushes his nose with the other hand not holding the chocolate. Her expression must've said why on it because he continues, "It chocolate to give you energy back."

"Oh…" she tentatively grabs the bar, "thanks." She takes a small bit. It melts in her mouth and she feels slightly reenergized. She feels a small smile forming.

"Good…?" he asks.

"Delicious," she honestly says facing him. He doesn't move. And the two are just staring each other for a moment. Not sure why, she starts to say, "Thank y-"

 **CLICK!**

She blinks to recover her vision. _Did he just take a picture of me?_

"I think this is my favorite one of the day," he's lowering the camera now. "Do you want to see?" he tilts the computer monitor towards the two of them.

"Wha-!? I look awful!" Her face is covered in sweat, there's chocolate on her face, and she has an terrifying smile on her face from exhaustion. "Why did you take that!?"

"Don't get mad at me. It's an honor a photographer like me took a solo photo of an extra like you."

"It's not an honor at all!" _Rude, rude, rude! And I just started to respect you a just a little…_

"Aurora is ready!" a crew member interrupts them.

"Alright mascot," he's, arrogantly, smiling at her, "standby."

She doesn't dignify him an answer and just walks to the back of the room.

The photo process repeats a few more times with breaks (Regina is sure to avoid him as much as possible). And it continues well into the night.

"Thank you for all of your work," people say as they leave. Regina just weakly and tiredly waves at them. _I just want to go home, take a bath, and sleep for the rest of the week…._

She's about to walk away when she thinks of Robin. _Should I wait? We do live in the same building and we'll be going in the same direction anyways…I can wait a few minutes… five minutes…?_

She intensely watches five minutes on her phone clock. Just as the five minute mark pass, he comes out.

"You're still here?" he clearly didn't expect her to be waiting. _Good…It's time to surprise him._

She gives him a small shrug before explaining, "I just thought since we live in the same building, we could go home together."

"Together…?" he raises his eyebrows.

Regina momentarily freezes. _What am I doing? Clearly this was a mistake…_ "Never mind, it was silly. Besides I have to do… things…" she lamely finishes. And, if possible, his eyebrows go even higher, but this time with a smile.

"It's not silly at all, let's go home, Regina," he gently says. _He didn't yell my name this time…It's always milady in conversation…_

"Okay…"

The two silently walk side by side on the nearly empty sidewalks. They're half way home, when Regina feels a sleep spell overcoming her. Her body grows heavier and she can feel her eyelids dropping.

"Careful, you'll trip if you fall asleep now," he carefully takes her arm. And in her tired state, she doesn't resist.

They get closer to being home, but not talking is putting Regina asleep. _What can we talk about…?_ "Do you always develop photos in your bathroom?"

He shifts their arms a bit so she can stand straighter up before answering, "Only when I develop at home. In my windowless bathroom, I can shut out all the light and I have access to all the water I need."

"But how do you shower?" she asks without thinking.

"Curious about that, milady? Well…" he suggestively pauses, "there are other places with baths, you know."

It takes her far to long to realize what he means (she blames her dulled mind), "Oh, you mean your girlfriend's? Doesn't she get annoyed by you?"

"Who says it's only one?" he teasingly says. She retracts her arm from his grip and creates distance between them. _That explains the lipstick stain from the other morning._

"Bastard," she mutters.

"How about you? Any serious boyfriend, or girlfriends, you've felt comfortable enough to take a shower at their place?" he asks.

"I fail to see how that's any of your business."

"True, but it's only coming from a concerned neighbor," he cheekily says.

She ignores his comment as forces the attention on him, "Have _you_ even been serious about anyone?" she ask rudely, but he was the one who brought up the topic.

"Once, but that was enough," he cooly says.

"Really?"

"Well only if you consider marriage serious."

 _How much more serious can you get? But wait, he isn't married now, right…?_ "You're divorced?"

"Yep," he easily says.

"When were you married?" she's far to curious about this.

"When I was 23… And we got divorced five months later."

 _That fast!?_ She thinks about it for moment before reflecting on her life. "I guess I haven't done much of anything…" she mutters, momentarily forgetting that he's there.

"What do you mean?"

"I just meant that we're about the same age, I think, but you've clearly had more life experiences than me."

"You could say that," he shrugs, "but I'm sure there are things you've done that I haven't."

"Well, if you include ending an engagement before the wedding as life experience," she dryly says. And she mildly impressed that he doesn't react to hearing of her failed engagement.

"See?" he says with a smile, "You were smart and didn't waste time and money on the wedding. You didn't need that life experience to learn."

"I think I could've done without that life experience."

The conversation dies right as the arrive at the apartment. She hastily says goodbye and climbs the stairs to the third floor. Once she gets in her apartment, she promptly forgets her last interaction with Robin.

The next day is fairly uneventful. And it's made better when she runs into Emma in the hallway who tells her that her bike was repaired and ready for pick up. So she sets out again to the bike shop. But apparently her bike is an attractive charm for rain. It doesn't start out too bad, but by the time she gets home, she's coming home soaking wet the second time this week.

"Oh?" a cheery voices calls out to Regina, "Who does this wet bird belong to?"

Regina turns around to see a smiling smaller blonde woman. Her hair is stylishly in up-do and she's wearing a green dress shirt and grey vest over it.

"Excuse me?" Regina studies the stranger.

"Do you live here? Or are you visiting someone?"

"No… I live here," she warily watches the stranger.

"Really? I don't think I've seen you before. What apartment are you?"

"33…"

"Really?! You live across from Baefire?!" the woman's eyes light up. _Oh no… she's like Kathryn…_ "Please, please, please, birdy, trade apartments with me!"

"Huh?" _Of all things a stranger could ask…_

"Please! I just want to live on the same floor as him! I live on the fourth floor. And my apartment is nice, so it wouldn't be a bad deal for you," she tries to bargain.

"I'm not switch apartments with a person I don't even know," she bluntly says.

Regina is thankfully saved by Mrs. Lucas coming out of her office, "Now, now… can't you see you're making Regina uncomfortable?"

"Oh come on, Granny. It's just a simple apartment switch. Ruby and I did it all the time!"

 _Granny? Isn't Mrs. Lucas' only granddaughter traveling? In like Spain?_

"Well you two knew each other," Mrs. Lucas says.

"Then introduce us!" the young blonde cheers.

Mrs. Lucas softly sighs, but complies, "Regina, this is Margaret Bell. She lives in number 42."

Apparently not one for niceties, Margaret finishes her own introduction, "I'm a person stylist. It's nice to meet you," she swiftly extends her hand for Regina.

"…I'm Regina Mills, I'm in 33," she takes the woman's hand.

"So I'll call you Regina, and you can call me Tink."

"Like Tinkerbell?"

"Well with two Margarets in the building, it easier to refer to me as Tinkerbell," she smiles.

"Okay…" she's not quite sure about that logic. It's technically "Mary-Margaret" and she's known as "Snow" already. But examining her again, Regina can start to see why she's Tinkerbell. From the green outfit and blonde hair to the jumpiness in all her movement.

"By the way, Regina, here's the apartment newsletter," Mrs. Lucas reaches through her office window and hands her the leaflet.

Regina doesn't pay much attention to it, but the title does stand out, "'Watch out for suspicious people'?"

"Oooh! That! There've already been two incidents," Tink says while looking around the block. Regina and Mrs. Lucas instantly move with her. But nothing's amiss.

"You come home pretty late, right Regina?" she nods. "You should be extra careful," Mrs. Lucas faces her.

"Er-thanks. I will," she hesitates to accept, albeit well meaning, advice from her landlady.

"Huh?" Tink spins to look directly at Mrs. Lucas, "What about me? Aren't you worried about me?"

"I'm sure Ruby will protect you," Mrs. Lucas flatly says. _Ruby? The granddaughter? She home?_

"Haha…" Tink says with a vague blush, "I guess that's true."

Sensing the end of her part in the conversation, Regina moves to actually enter the building. But Mrs. Lucas catches her, "Would you mind delivering the newsletter to Robin? You can shove it under his door. He never checks his mail box."

Regina wordlessly takes the leaflet and walks up the stairs to the second floor. She skims the rest of the newsletter for anything urgent. It's mostly about local sales and farmers markets. But at the bottom there's a banner announcing an upcoming rooftop party. _Hmm…Will other people go?_ Every once in a while, Mrs. Lucas will host a pot-luck type party on the apartment roof. For the most part, Regina misses them because of work. And the few times she ends up going, only the Nolans are the other attendees.

She makes it to his door. Before she slides it underneath his door, she signs her name on the corner of the paper to show that she's seen it. But when she bends down to door gap, she notices the door's open. _Does he have a guest? Or did he forget to lock it?_

She stands up at the same time a person walks out of the apartment. And the door smacks into Regina's face, "Ouch!"

"Oh my god! I didn't know someone was out here!" a younger woman yells in her ears. But Regina doesn't register much of it because of the pain in her nose. She gingerly touches her nose. _Ow! Ow!_ And from the corner of her eyes, she sees that younger woman is shorter than herself, brunette hair, and wearing professional clothes.

 _Why is she coming out Robin's apartment? …Please don't tell me she's one of his 'girlfriends'…_

* * *

 **A/N: I forgot to ask this in the last chapter, but do people want to read Robin's POV too? In this story after Regina's POV is done or as a separate fic?**

 **Anyways, thanks for reading!**


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